Midterm Question 5

I’m not sure how superstring reconciles general theory of relativity with quantum mechanics, but I did find this line on page 52, “Instead, it was claimed that a theory named supersymmetric string theory was the only way to combine gravity with quantum theory.” From what I understand, gravity/supergravity are what hold Einstein’s theory together. Somehow, these superstrings are what hold general theory together with quantum mechanics. The four forces of the universe are electromagnetism, strong nuclear force, weak nuclear force, and gravity. Hawking didn’t write much about strong and weak nuclear forces, and nothing about electromagnetism. All I know about these three are that they are small and that quantum mechanics explains the small. In order to combine them all into one super force, you'd need the help of superstring theory.